Hamilton was never a threat to the Ferraris in France, however, having been hampered by a ten-place grid penalty even before the weekend began, and then picking up a drive-thru' penalty in the midst of his climb through the field. That allowed Raikkonen and Massa to dominate, with the order at the front only swapping once the world champion hit exhaust problems.
"I did not expect [to win]," Massa admitted, "Sometimes, you need a little bit of luck and, today, I had a little bit of luck with what happened to Kimi and his exhaust. I was already quite comfortable in second position, as he had a very quick pace and a better balanced car, and I am sure it would have been very difficult for me to pass him.
"It was a little bit tough to follow him [early in the race], as he was very quick at that moment. I was two or three tenths slower than him, but I had two more laps of fuel, which is understandable. I would have liked to have been one tenth slower per lap, and then it would have been possible to fight for position in the pits.
"But, when I saw that the gap was already six seconds, I said ‘okay, maybe it is better to concentrate on the driving and finish second' as that already was a great result for the championship. Then I saw that he was slowing down and I heard that he had a problem with the exhaust...."
Such was
Ferrari's margin over the rest of the field, Massa was able to back off when the predicted rain arrived late in the race.
"It was very difficult because you could feel straightaway that the track was not the same anymore," he revealed, "I was always slowing even more than I needed because I had a very good gap - I was not risking anything. You could see the drops and, although sometimes they were very small drops and you don't feel the track changing, sometimes it is coming a little bit stronger and the grip is a little bit lower than you expect. When I saw some big drops, I said ‘okay, it is better to slow down more and lose time instead of [taking a] risk and maybe go off in the corner'."
